Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict
|native_resolution= |version=3280-3323 (Epic Games) |system_requirements= |input_methods= }} Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict, also known as Unreal Championship 2, The Liandri Conflict, and UC2, was Epic Games first console-exclusive title developed specifically by them. The game is available exclusively for the Xbox, though Microsoft has developed a backwards compatibility update for the Xbox 360 in order to play it there. The game was released on April 18, 2005 and published by Midway Games as part of a three-game publishing deal. __TOC__ Synopsis Overview Unreal Championship 2 features 14 different characters from the Unreal universe, plus extra characters released in a bonus pack via Xbox Live. Other additions include the new gametypes Overdose and Nali Slaughter, new weapons including melee weapons, and more adrenaline combos than in previous games. The game's use of third-person perspective when using a melee weapon affords the player greater control in combat. Unreal Championship 2 attempts to combine the genres of first-person shooter with third-person fighting games like Soul Calibur. To aid in this attempt at combined gameplay, the Thunder God Raiden from the popular fighting game series Mortal Kombat is available as a secret character. Players can use melee weapons only in third-person mode, but can switch between first- and third-person mode on the fly while using firearms. Before a multiplayer game starts, the host can change gravity, regenerate health, and otherwise modify gameplay with "mutators" as is common in the rest of the series. The game also features, in addition to the classic multiplayer, a single player system. There's also a weight class system where heavy characters are stronger at the expense of some agility, and light characters are agiler at the expense of some firepower. Unlike other Unreal games, players have to choose two weapons (one explosive and one energy) to use. Ammo for each of these weapons is spread throughout the battlefield. The game also had cutscenes, story-specific missions, and tournament ladders for each character in the game. Development history Unreal Championship 2 began development in 2003 after Unreal Tournament 2003 was released, and was a planned sequel titled UT2005. When fans of UT started clamoring after improvements to 2003, Epic decided to move UT2005 to consoles and began work on Unreal Tournament 2004. UT2005 eventually became Unreal Championship 2, and was the first of a three-game contract between Midway Games and Epic Games. The game was marketed as a sequel to Unreal Championship, even though, for the most part, it has nothing to do with that game whatsoever. The game was developed using a modified version of the Unreal Engine which later became it's own licensable product. According to Joe Graf, a vehicle-based gametype was created"Let's design Unreal Championship 3 Seriously: Updated 2-9-07" @ Epic Forums, with even specialized maps"Let's design Unreal Championship 3 Seriously: Updated 2-9-07" @ Epic Forums, but they clashed with the core mechanics of the game, so it didn't make the cut for the game. This game is the last in the Unreal series using Unreal Engine 2.x, as well as the final Unreal game to be released as an Xbox exclusive. Being an Xbox exclusive title, the contents, including the timeline of the game, were oblivious to non-Xbox gamers, who were made to frogleap from UT2004 to UT3. Demo A demo was released in OXM on March 1, 2005. It was also available at retailers such as Best Buy as a standalone disc. Often the requirement to get this copy was to either pre-order the game or purchase some other game. The demo contained the maps DM-Deadbolt, DM-Praxis, DM-Remnant, CTF-Emperor and CTF-ViperPit and the characters Anubis, Lauren and Szalor. Only half of the weapons were available, including Rocket Launcher, RipJack, Sniper Rifle and Stinger. Release dates * April 18, 2005 - The game was released to stores, published by Midway Games. Game content Gamemodes There are three single-player modes, Botmatches aside, for UC2: the Ascension Rites, the Individual Ladders, and the Challenges. Each of them make use of the game's extensive maplist, mutatorlist and gametypelist. Many characters, bots, and mutators can only be unlocked through playing the single-player modes. The gametypes found in the game are Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture The Flag, Overdose, Nali Slaughter and Survival. While Overdose and CTF use their own set of maps each, the rest of the gametypes make use of the Deathmatch mappool. Characters The game shipped with 14 playable characters, between selectables and unlockables. The Bonus Pack brought another 10 characters. With 8 remaining characters appearing as just bots, the game boosts a grand total of 32 characters. Image:Portrait_Icon_Anubis_1.jpg|link=Anubis (character)| Anubis Image:Portrait_Icon_Arclite_1.jpg|link=Arclite| Arclite Image:Portrait_Icon_Brock_1.jpg|link=Brock| Brock Image:Portrait_Icon_Devastation_1.jpg|link=Devastation| Devastation Image:Portrait_Icon_Gorge_1.jpg|link=Gorge| Gorge Image:Portrait_Icon_Lauren_1.jpg|link=Lauren| Lauren Image:Portrait_Icon_Malcolm_1.jpg|link=Malcolm| Malcolm Image:Portrait_Icon_Raiden_1.jpg|link=Raiden| Raiden Image:Portrait_Icon_Raptor_1.jpg|link=Raptor (character)| Raptor Image:Portrait_Icon_Sapphire_1.jpg|link=Sapphire| Sapphire Image:Portrait_Icon_Selket_1.jpg|link=Selket| Selket Image:Portrait_Icon_Sobek_1.jpg|link=Sobek| Sobek Image:Portrait_Icon_Szalor_1.jpg|link=Szalor| Szalor Image:Portrait_Icon_Torg_1.jpg|link=Torgr| Torgr Image:Portrait_Icon_Apophis.jpg|link=Apophis| Apophis Image:Portrait_Icon_Calypso.jpg|link=Calypso| Calypso Image:Portrait_Icon_Garek.jpg|link=Garek| Garek Image:Portrait_Icon_Jackhammer.jpg|link=Jackhammer| Jackhammer Image:Portrait_Icon_Judas.jpg|link=Judas| Judas Image:Portrait_Icon_Kraag.jpg|link=Kraag| Kraag Image:Portrait_Icon_Lilith.jpg|link=Lilith| Lilith Image:Portrait_Icon_MercAnubis_1.jpg|link=Anubis (character)| Merc Anubis Image:Portrait_Icon_NecrisSelket_1.jpg|link=Selket| Necris Selket Image:Portrait_Icon_Syzygy.jpg|link=Syzygy| Syzygy Image:Portrait_Icon_Corrosion.jpg|link=Corrosion| Corrosion Image:Portrait_Icon_Darius.jpg|link=Darius| Darius Image:Portrait_Icon_Hyena.jpg|link=Hyena| Hyena Image:Portrait_Icon_Korig.jpg|link=Korig| Korig Image:Portrait_Icon_Memphis.jpg|link=Memphis| Memphis Image:Portrait_Icon_Mirage.jpg|link=Mirage| Mirage Image:Portrait_Icon_Nepthys.jpg|link=Nepthys| Nepthys Image:Portrait_Icon_Ra.jpg|link=Ra| Ra Weapons There are four types of weapons. Energy weapons which are powered by Tarydium crystals (or waste, in the case of the Bio Rifle), explosive weapons use explosive ammo, pistols with varying alternate firing modes depending on character race, and lastly, Melee weapons. Usually, Melee and Starting weapons are tied to a specific character or race. Melee weapons Starting weapons * Nakhti Scorpions (Anubis, Apophis, Darius, Hyena, Memphis, Mirage, Nepthys, Ra, Selket, Sobek) * Skaarj Razik (Garek, Korig, Kraag, Szalor, Torgr) * Liandri Rivet Gun (Corrosion, Devastation, Raptor, Syzygy) * Lightning Bolts (Raiden) * Dual Enforcers (Human) (Malcolm, Sapphire) * Dual Enforcers (Juggernaut) (Arclite, Gorge, Jackhammer) * Dual Enforcers (Necris) (Brock, Calypso, Judas, Lauren, Lilith, Necris Selket) Energy weapons * Sniper Rifle * Shock Rifle * Bio Rifle * Stinger Explosive weapons * Rocket Launcher * Ripjack * Flak Cannon * Grenade Launcher Items * Small Health Pack * Medium Health Pack * Adrenaline * Energy Ammo: provides ammo for Energy weapons. * Explosive Ammo: provides ammo for the Explosive weapons. * Super Health * Super Adrenaline * UDamage * Invisibility Soundtrack Contains 23 different tracks composed by Kevin Riepl. Reception The game was received very well by reviewers, with the average score being somewhere around 90% on most sites. It also gained favor among many gamers, however interest in the game died off after a short time and only a small cult following is left surrounding the game. Many people's complaints centered around the game simply being too difficult to master, which was true when compared with games like Halo that had overly simple controls as well as auto aim. Trivia Gallery Videos Unreal Championship 2 The Liandri Conflict Xbox Trailer -|Official trailer. External links and references * Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict @ Wikipedia * Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict (Video Game) @ TVTropes See also